Home Sweet Home
by GennaWeasley
Summary: This is a story I started before season 4 aired, I just found it. It's at least partially in the old timeline.  An old friend of Fargo's returns to Eureka, and who knows what will happen...
1. Homecoming

_A/N - WOOOO EUREKA STORY! This is [at least partially] set in the old timeline, because I started writing it before season four started. I love the story, though, and I figured "Why not post it anyway?"_

_The computer where most of the stories I'm working on and posting here is broken right now [sorry, readers of my other stories!]_

One: Homecoming

As Mia walked out the door, she thought about all the things she was leaving behind. She walked to the gate, scared to look back. It was like the end of a novel or a movie with a sequel. She just wasn't sure Part Two would be coming anytime soon.

Damian was thinking similar thoughts, standing at the door. When would they see each other again? It was like a bad joke. She was transferring? Why so suddenly? How could she do this to him? To anyone! She had simply knocked on his door that morning, saying she needed to tell him something.

"What's up, Mi?" He'd asked, slightly worried.

"I'm leaving. Transferring to a new school. It's out of my control. I…I'm sorry, Damian. I didn't know until yesterday myself, and…" She'd answered.

"And WHAT? How is anything you say going to make this easier? Make it so I'm not losing my best friend in the world?" He'd said angrily.

"AND I COULDN'T BRING MYSELF TO TELL YOU! I knew you'd take it badly… I couldn't face you. I'm sorry!" She'd answered.

"Well, tell me where you're going, at least. So I can write to you. So we can at least keep in touch," He'd said, calming down.

"I… I can't tell you, Dom. I can't," She'd whispered, clearly worried what he'd say. He shook his head.

"Mimi. Mia. MIA LYNN DONOVAN. You can't just leave!" He'd said, anger returning. "And now you can't tell me where you're going?"

"I… It's a little town in Oregon. Eureka. I'll give you my address, once I get there. It's got a great school… I have to go. It's… I've just… I've got to go, Dom," She'd answered.

"What about Jamie? Have you told him?" He'd asked.

"Damian Oliver McDonnell! Do you doubt that I've told everyone else? I told you last… I told you that already!" She'd said.

Damian already regretted being so sharp with her. He'd been meaner than he'd intended, but he couldn't bear to watch her leave. He turned away, back into the house.

"Dom!" She called. He turned around to find her about two feet away from him. "Bye, Damian. I'll miss you. Write to me all the time!"

She stood up on her tiptoes, kissed him on the cheek and ran down the stairs and out the gate. Just before she closed the car door, he called to her, "I'll miss you, Mia!" She waved goodbye as she closed the door.

In the car, Mia wiped her eyes. Jamie and Damian hadn't taken it well. It wasn't like she'd _wanted_ to leave. She really hadn't had a choice. Allison had come after the show and talked to her. And you can't really turn Allison down. Mia had emailed Zane, telling him that her address would be changing. She'd talked to all of her best friends. But she hadn't prepared herself for the look on Jamie's face when she'd said she was leaving. For Damian's anger. She wasn't ready to leave. Mia looked out the back window and just saw Damian's door close.

A few hours later, a similar car pulled up outside a similar house. Mia stepped out of the car, followed by Allison Blake.

"So, this is home now?" Mia asked, as if she didn't recognize the house.

"You should know, you designed it," Allison answered.

"I know I did. But then you _built_ it! Right where we planned, too… So, has anybody moved since I was last here, or does Doug still live down the street?" Mia asked.

"A few people have moved into town, a few have moved out, but other than that they're all in the same places. Practically the whole town's at Café Diem, I told them I had a surprise," Allison said.

"Oh you did, did you?" Mia said, following Allison down the familiar street. A bit later, Allison led her through the door of Café Diem.

Allison addressed the room, "Attention please. Mimi's back!"

Mia, who was halfway through sending Jamie and Damian a text message with her address, suddenly found herself surrounded by old friends.

"Wait! Doug's still in town, right?" She asked. Allison nodded. Mia raised her voice, "DOUG? DOUG FARGO? IS DOUGLAS FARGO HERE?"

Everyone looked at each other. A male voice she didn't recognize said, "He's over here!"

Mia walked toward the voice and saw the back of a familiar head ducking behind a woman she'd never met. Next to them was a guy she thought looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place his face. He looked completely confused. "Doug? Doug Fargo?"

"I… uh…. Hi, Mimi," Douglas said, stepping out from behind the other woman. Mia threw her arms around him and kissed him.

"Who are your friends?" She asked.

"This is Zane Donovan, he works at GD. And this is Julia, she's…" He began.

"His girlfriend," Julia finished. Mia was dumbfounded.

"Oh, that's great!" Mia said, using all her acting talent to stop herself from freaking out or crying. _Doug has a girlfriend?_ She thought. _Impossible!_

She turned to Zane. "My brother's name is Zane. Where are you from?"

"Massachusetts," He replied, even more confused.

"How old are you?" Mia asked, almost as confused as he looked.

"26. You know, I have a twin sister… you look just like she did last time I saw her," Zane answered. This time, Mia said nothing. She just gaped.

A minute or so later, Mia regained her voice. "And the last time you saw her, she was slamming the door of a blue-grey sedan screaming that she never wanted to see you again, right?"

"Yeah, um, how did you know that?" Zane answered.

"It was your 16th birthday. You were upset with her for some stupid reason. You fought. She twisted her ankle, you sprained your wrist. You pushed her off the garage roof and she left town with a broken arm," Mia continued. Zane nodded, dumbfounded. "You haven't seen her since. Rare emails and birthday presents are the only contact you've had in the last ten years. And just last night she sent you an email saying that she was moving. Right?"

"Yes. But how do you know all of that?" Zane asked.

"Zane Michael Donovan, for someone SO bright, you're _awfully _slow. It's me! It's Mimi!" Mia said, and Zane understood. Just then, the town's sheriff and deputy entered the crowded restaurant. Mia turned to Vincent and ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and French fries.

"Mimi, this is Sheriff Jack Carter and Deputy Jo Lupo," Zane said as they approached.

"Hello, Sheriff Carter," Mia said, shaking his hand. She turned to the deputy, who had her arms around Zane. "Jo? Jojo Lupo? Oh goodness! I haven't seen you since Annie! How've you been?"

"Mia? Mia Donovan? MD, it's been so long! I've been great, you?" Jo answered. Everyone looked at them, confused. "MD and I acted together a few years ago."

"MD?" Zane said, amused.

"Don't judge, Zaney. I've been wonderful, Jo," Mia answered. She punched her brother lightly on the shoulder.

"So, MD, are you still in touch with Dom and Jamie?" Jo asked innocently. Mia blushed darker red than her burgundy dress.

"We've mostly stayed in the same company since… They weren't so happy with me when I said I was leaving. Dom nearly ripped my head off, I swear!" Mia answered. Jo doubled over laughing. "Hey! It's not funny! He looked like he was gonna kill me!"

"Um, who is 'Dom'?" Douglas asked.

"Dom," Jo gasped, trying to catch her breath, "is MD's boyfriend."

Doug was stunned. _Mia has a boyfriend? I can't really be angry, considering that I have a girlfriend now, but this is quite a surprise, _he thought.

"Jojo, you know full well that Damian and I never dated. Nor did I ever date James," Mia corrected quickly, glancing at Doug.

"Fargo, honey, is something wrong?" Julia asked, noticing the look on Douglas's face.

"No, Julia. I'm fine. Wait, who're Damian and James?" Doug replied.

Without looking at him, Mia said, "Damian Oliver McDonnell and James Ellwyn are my two of my best friends. They generally go by Dom and Jamie, though."

"Yeah, she only uses their full names when she's hiding something!" Jo laughed.

_So Mimi doesn't have a boyfriend. Should I be relieved or uncomfortable because __**I**__ did break my promise? _Douglas thought. _When I put it like that, I'm leaning towards uncomfortable._

Mia grabbed Douglas's arm and dragged him about 10 feet away from the others.

"New girlfriend, eh?" She said, semi accusatorily. "She used your last name, love. I know _other_ people do that, but girlfriends… and friends, don't. It's a little bit ridiculous."

"What about Dome and Jackie or whatever their names are?"

"Dom and Jamie. What about them?" Mia corrected.

"Jo said that you and Dom dated," Doug stated.

"Jojo says a lot of things that aren't true, Doug. I neverevereverever dated Dom. Or Jamie. I swear," Mia replied irritatedly.

"Oh," Doug said. "What does all this mean for me?"

"This," Mia answered. She slapped him in the face.

A few feet away, Zane studied his sister. She was talking in a hushed voice to Fargo and had just slapped him across the face. Her appearance hadn't changed in the 10 years since he'd seen her last and there was no mistaking her childish face. He was positive that this was the Mia Donovan that he'd thrown off the roof of the garage on their 16th birthday. She'd always had an amazing ability to know everyone she saw. A sudden thought came to him. _She lived here before._ She seemed to have some connection to Fargo – or at least he'd have been surprised if she hadn't, after she kissed him as a greeting and slapped him whilst they were talking.

As Zane had been thinking, Allison had approached the small group. Sheriff Carter put his arm around her as Mia and Fargo returned. Mia saw this and tilted her head to the side questioningly.

"Did Nathan leave town?" she asked curiously.

"Dr. Stark passed away several years ago. I thought I had told you…?" Fargo responded.

"Nathan _died?_ No, Douglas, You failed to mention that!" Mia replied. She punched him in the shoulder. He winced. Zane remembered how strong Mia had been when they'd been growing up and instinctively took a few steps away from her.

"Um, excuse me, but I think I'm a little behind here – Who are you?" Julia asked Mia.

"Well, as I assume you've figured out, I'm Zane's sister and I used to act with Deputy Lupo. But what I'm sure you're asking is how I came to know the rest of these Eureka people. I used to live here. I was Doug's best friend. Allison and Nathan were like a second set of parents to me. See, I moved here for the end of my junior year and all of my senior year of high school. Then I went to college and graduated really quickly and came back here. I worked at GD for a few years – when I was 16, this happened," Mia gestured to her definitely-not-26-year-old appearance, "But I don't like to think about that. When I was 19, I left Eureka. The months leading up to my departure were… eventful. Anyways, now you know who I am."

"I suppose," Julia said confusedly. Zane noticed Mia quickly conceal something in her right hand and put her left hand into her pocket. He wondered what had happened before she'd left Eureka, but he didn't think it was wise to ask.


	2. Reunion

_A/N - I'm pretty sure nobody's reading this, so nobody noticed my incredible absence from fanfiction recently - the computer I usually work on is just finally NOW getting fixed. This was saved on another computer. :) SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I PRESENT CHAPTER TWO:_

Two: Reunion

Allison Blake also noticed Mia's movement. Remembering the summer before Mia's departure, Allison changed the subject. She said, "Well, Mia, I should probably be getting home – Jenna's babysitter has some homework to do, if I remember correctly."

Sheriff Carter laughed, "Yeah, we should probably give Zoe a break. It was nice to meet you, Mia."

He and Allison left Café Diem and drove back to his house. When they arrived, they found Jack Carter's daughter Zoe asleep, holding Allison's baby daughter who was tugging at Zoe's hair, trying to wake her up.

"Zoe, sweetie, we're here," Allison said as she picked up her daughter. Zoe simply rolled over on the couch.

"What happened before Mia left Eureka? When she mentioned it, you and Fargo both got quiet and she looked as if she was hiding something in her hands," Jack asked.

"Well, a few weeks before Mia left – before she'd told any of us – her boyfriend proposed to her. She told him that she'd be leaving Eureka, but he still wanted to marry her. So she said yes. She's been wearing the engagement ring for 7 years now and… It's always been a touchy subject around Fargo, especially recently. The ring was what she had in her hand."

"Oh."

Later that evening, Douglas Fargo heard the doorbell ring several times before he decided to actually go downstairs and answer the door. When he opened the door, he saw Mia. She had changed out of the cute shirt and jeans she'd been wearing earlier to a pair of grey shorts and an ancient blue t-shirt that he'd leant her more than 10 years ago. It said "Eureka Baseball" in faded white letters. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. She looked just like she had the first time they'd kissed – a haunting reminder that he'd gone back on his promise and she hadn't.

"Minnie? W-Why are you here?" Douglas asked nervously.

"Oh, Buttons, you can stop acting nervous – I know you're glad to see me," Mia said. She pushed Douglas out of the way and walked into his living room. "Your house hasn't changed much since I was last here."

"I- I… No I'm not!" He answered.

"You haven't called me Minnie –even in an email- since before I left. But that doesn't matter – it's not why I'm here," Mia continued.

"Then why are you here?" Douglas asked, ignoring her first sentence.

"I came to give you this," Mia said. She held out a gold ring with five small diamonds set into it.

"Minnie… Look, I'm sorry about Julia," began Douglas. Mia cut him off.

"I don't care if you're sorry, it really doesn't matter right now! It's clear you've moved on – not really surprising because you've hardly seen me since we were 19, "exclaimed Mia. She took a breath. "Please, just take the ring back, Buttons!"

She sat down on the couch and covered her face with her hands. Douglas said, "Minnie? Min, I'm trying to say that I wish I hadn't gone out with Julia! Minnie, I'll break up with her tomorrow if you'll please just stay with me. If you want, I'll even propose again – we can go to the same park, I'll call the same people…"

"Doug, you're amazing. There's no need, though, really. You've moved on – I'm okay with that," Mia answered, wiping her eyes.

"No, I haven't! Min, I never got over you. I don't think I ever will. Please, Minnie, marry me," Douglas said quietly.

"Alright," Mia answered. She allowed Douglas to put the ring back on her finger.

"Minnie, let's go watch a movie. I've still got a bunch of musicals in my movie collection," Douglas suggested.

"Why?" asked Mia.

"I used to watch them when I missed you… they remind me of you. As much because you forced me to add them to my movie collection as any other reason," Douglas mumbled.

"Well, personally, I'd rather watch Star Trek – the new one, if you've got it," Mia giggled. "But at least I know you missed me."

"Oh, well, that's cool too," Douglas mumbled. Mia laughed out loud. She and Douglas walked down the stairs to Doug's basement entertainment center. Mia put in the movie then joined Douglas on the couch.

A little more than halfway through the movie, Mia fell asleep with her head on Douglas's shoulder. Roughly 15 minutes later, Julia Golden rang the doorbell. Douglas was unable to get up without waking Mia, so he covered her ears and shouted, "IT'S UNLOCKED!"

He faintly heard a shout from the front hall, "Fargo, honey, where are you?"

Covering Mia's ears again, he shouted, "ENTERTAINMENT ROOM!"

He heard Julia run down the stairs. Mia looked up at him and said, "Covering my ears and shouting at the top of your lungs is not an effective way to keep me asleep."

"Min –" Douglas began. Julia's footsteps were getting closer, so before Douglas finished his sentence, Mia collapsed into his lap and pretended to be asleep again.

"Hey, Fargo, I was just… ARE YOU CHEATING ON ME?" Julia yelled.

"Oh my god… how do I explain this… Julia, I'm not cheating on you," began Douglas.

"Douglas, what do you expect me to think?"Julia asked. Mia moved her hand so that the ring caught the light. Julia screamed. "FARGO! LOOK! LOOK AT THAT! She's cheating on someone too!"

"What?" Douglas said.

"The ring. That's an _engagement_ ring, Douglas. She's cheating on her fiancé. OOH I have GOT to find out who that is so I can tell him. That ring looks expensive, too," said Julia.

"Yeah, it was. I bought it," Douglas responded. Julia looked confused. "Julia, I was dating Mia long before I met you. Technically, it was Minnie here that I was cheating on. And since she's forgiven me, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop shouting because she might wake up."

Julia stormed up the stairs and out the front door. Mia sat up and looked at Douglas. She smiled and said, "I missed you, Buttons."

"I missed you, too, Minnie," he replied, before kissing her on the cheek.

_A/N - after this, there's going to be a transition into the new timeline. Because, of course, as soon as things are going this right something has to go wrong. It's Eureka, after all._


	3. Founder's Day

_A/N - First update in about a million years YAY! All of my stories but this one are saved on a computer that hasn't been working. As for this one... Writer's Block. But no worries. From here on out it's mostly already written & I'll just be copying it over onto the computer._

Three: Founder's Day

Things began to fall into a new routine. For most people, Mia's return to Eureka did not cause any significant change in their lives - other than perhaps a slight increase in happiness (her good moods had always been contagious). For others, it presented a monumental change. One such person was Julia. About a week after Mia's return, Douglas found Julia sitting alone in the corner of Cafe Diem.

"Hey Julia," he said hesitantly.

She looked up at him angrily. "What do you want, Fargo?"

"Uh, actually I came to apologize," replied Douglas. Julia looked at him questioningly. "For how I acted the other day."

"Oh, really?" she responded.

"Yeah," he began uncertainly. "Look, for what it's worth, you're awesome. And I'm sure that somewhere out there... there's an awesome guy who's worthy of that who won't break up with you by yelling that he was already engaged before the two of you had met. That was kind of dumb. But I hadn't seen Mia in a very long time - not in person, at least - and I was enjoying spending some time with her. I wasn't expecting you to appear at my door in the middle of the night. That's not how I wanted things to go. Not at all. So, Julia, I'm really really sorry about how I acted and I hope that someday we can be friends."

Before she could respond, he turned and walked away.

Another person whose life changed with Mia's reappearance was Zane. The day after Mia was reunited with her brother, she found her way to his apartment on her bike. He was surprised when she rang the doorbell, but he let her in anyway.

"Hello, Zaney," she said as she entered.

"Hi Mia," he replied politely.

Mia looked up at her brother, who was substantially taller than she was. "We have a lot of catching up to do, don't we?"

"Mia, we've been in touch - I've told you everything about my life over the last few years," said Zane confusedly.

She sighed. "Tell me about Eureka. I haven't been home in so long... and tell me about Jo."

"Well, you know this town. It's been nothing but crazy since I first moved here. And Jo..." he said, trailing off.

"What about her?" Mia asked. Then something clicked and a memory returned to her. "She's who you've been dating, right? Aw, Zane - the girl you've been planning to propose to is Jojo Lupo?"

Zane nodded. Mia flung her arms around him. "Zaney, that's the cutest thing ever. Do you have a ring?"

"I was planning to give her Grandma's," said Zane.

Mia smiled. "You really love her, don't you?"

Zane nodded.

Things were going well in Eureka. It was almost Founder's Day and everyone was happy. Zane was planning to propose to Jo, Mia and Douglas's relationship became even closer and Mia had taken to babysitting Jenna so that Allison and Jack could spend time together.

Then it was Founder's Day. Jack, Allison, Jo, Douglas and Henry were sent back in time to 1947 by accident. The future they returned to was not the one they left.

When they got back, Douglas went running home, looking for Mia. He found that not only was she not at his house, but neither were any of her belongings. Nervously, he set off towards her house. He reached it & found that though the building was still there, there was no orange bicycle in the driveway or leaning against the side of the house and there was a for sale sign in the yard.

Douglas found the others later and discovered that Mia's absence wasn't the only difference. Kevin was different, Tess hadn't left, Henry was married, Jo and Zane hadn't ever dated and of course Dr. Grant had been brought into the future with them.

Later on, Douglas discovered that he, not Allison, was the head of GD. As he sat in his office, he had an idea. He turned toward his computer and started to compose a message.


End file.
